Jake saw me approaching and he handed the rod back to the old timer, who shuffled off grumbling. “I’ll show you how to string the line later,” Jake told the guy before turning to address me. “Well, look who we have here. It’s like I’m seeing a ghost.”
“Boo,” I said and shook his hand. “I’m looking for Shelby. She’s not at the farm.”
“Yeah, man, she’s not here. And you’re not supposed to be here either.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, shoulders tensing.
Jake chuckled and shook his head. “Dude, Lila took Shelby to the airport last night. Shelby flew out to LA to surprise you. I’m guessing she didn’t find you?”
“Fuck, she’s in LA?” I ran my hand through my hair, my mind running a mile a minute.
“Yeah, she texted Lila earlier when she landed.” He shrugged. “She was going to look for you at your office. She said she missed you. But it seems you were missing her right back. Aww.”
“You have no idea,” I said. “She was all I could think about when I left.”
“So you decided to come back?” Jake nodded like it made sense. “How long are you going to stick around this time?Because me and that old fart will be going fishing in a few days. You’re welcome to come along.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun, but I need to find Shelby.” I leaned on the counter. “You said she landed in LA, but I’m obviously not at my office. So where is she now?”
“Right.” He pulled his phone out. “Let me call Lila. She’ll know what’s going on.” He handed the phone to me. “It’s ringing. You talk. I don’t want to be passing messages back and forth like a dumbass.”
I grabbed the phone and held it to my ear.
Lila answered. “If you need me to bring the ointment, I don’t have it yet and?—”
“Lila, hey, it’s Carter,” I interrupted.
“What? Carter? Why did it say my husband was calling?”
“Because I have his phone—I’m at the feed store, I mean. I wasn’t trying to make it sound like I kidnapped him or something.”
Lila laughed in confusion. “The feed store? What is going on, Carter?”
I caught her up and she laughed harder. “I’m glad you and Jake called me,” she said. “I was about to tell him. Shelby is flying back as we speak. She asked me to go pick her up from the airport.”
Relief flooded through me, followed by excitement. “Which airport?”
“Louisville.”
I snorted. “I just came from there.”
“How would you feel about going back?” Lila asked. “I think she’d be a hell of a lot happier to see you picking her up than me.”
“It would be my pleasure. Just send me her flight info and I’ll leave right now.”
“Will do,” she said. “This will actually help me out a bunch. I have an errand to run.”
“Right, the ointment,” I said quietly, so Jake didn’t hear.
There was a long pause at the other end of the line and she sighed. “Please don’t tell Jake I mentioned that.”
I suppressed a smile. “Please don’t tell me what it’s for, and we’re good.”
“Deal.” Lila paused again. “You know, Carter, you might actually be a good guy.”
I laughed. “Thank you for saying that. And for the record, I’m just as surprised as you are. I think Shelby’s been a positive influence on me.”
“Well, go get her, then. I’ll send you her flight number.”
